We were in Maroela in August . Ellies on the fence, bushbuck and warthoggies too but just before we arrived there was a buffalo killed by several lions about 15 metres from the fence.. They were behind thick bush and every so often you could spot them, but the roaring and growling all through the night was very impressive .. and rather scary . But the day we left we were glad we did as the stench from the rotting flesh was not so nice .. But I am sure the hyenas and jackal we saw would make short work of the remaining flesh . So go and enjoy yourselves as there is a lot of game in that area Maroela is very close to the Orpen cam so check it out .

When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to your youth, think of algebra … !!!!!

Nungu, here is our camp site in Maroela in September last year, in the far corner, under a beautiful Jakkalsbessie tree, right next to the fence - fantastic ! We arrived at 09:00, just intime to find the previous campers moving out - so be there early !

We got to camp around 9:00.It was the one right next to the look-out platform in the far corner. We saw bushbuck, warthog, ellies, the obligatory hyena, and kudu from our "stoep".

And when we packed up 3 warthogs "reversed" into the storm pipe that exited next to the Jakkalsbessie tree.... we were surprised to actually see them go all the way up the pipe past the steel grids higher up in camp - amazing. Later they casually came out the pipe, gently strolled around the fence and walked in the gate all the way to where we were packing up and hung around waiting for us to leave - probably to see if they can get any scraps.

In the meantime a breeding herd of Ellies made their way around the corner of the camp and into the riverbed. Luckily the wind was in our favour and we had about 15 minutes to watch a baby, that couldn't have been more than a few months old, about 10m from us. The moment the matriarch saw/heard us she just lifted her trunk and without any audible sound the whole group immediately started walking across the riverbed to the other side.

lemonbalm wrote:Just got back from Maroela - What a fantastic camp made even better by the staff - Zondi and Nikiwe! It would be hard to find two more helpful individuals!! Zondi very kindly helped us to put up and take down, our by then very wet tents, and tied all the wet stuff to the roof of our bakkie for us! He also pays close attention to keeping other campers quiet if necessary (We had a group in the far back corner who decided a disco was in order, thankfully Zondi and the rest of us disagreed with that idea! We camped in the far right hand corner as one comes in the gate and had an Ellie browsing right on the fence within touching distance if we felt so inclined, daily visits from the Warthog family, and of course the vervets..., But no baboons, and still no honey badger for us at these 2 camps (with Tamboti)

Thank you for your thoughtful report back.

The bird doesn't sing because it has answers, it sings because it has a song.

When we were at maroela a few years back there was a lion kill about two metres from the fence and those lions were busy growling and roaring and carrying on for about three days .There were hyenas and jackal and all the usual scavenges around too. most exciting only thing is after those three days the smell was not so nice . I think they had killed a large Buff

When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to your youth, think of algebra … !!!!!